Brett
01-08-2010, 03:11 PM
Since I've had some time off over the holidays I've made up a healthy stockpile of authentic .58-caliber Minie and Enfield cartridge tubes. They're ready to be filled with powder and used for reenactments and living history demonstrations. The bullets are simulated by tissue paper, so they're absolutely safe to bring out on the field. I've got several hundred of each variety on hand at the moment, ready to ship.
50 cartridge tubes of either variety, Enfield or .58, are $14.00 with shipping included by USPS Priority Mail.
I take PayPal at pgbearcat@msn.com
PM me or e-mail me if you want to send a money order by snail mail.
1855 Pattern U.S. .58-caliber Minie cartridge -- Adopted for the M1855 rifle-musket, this cartridge was used by the Federals until generally replaced in 1862 by a simplified pattern, but was used extensively throughout the war by the Confederates. I've recreated this cartridge exactly to the specifications from the Ordnance Department's 1855 Reports of Experiments with Small Arms (http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8628/1855cartridge.jpg). Jefferson Davis, as Secretary of War, approved this cartridge pattern. (It's also the same cartridge described in the 1861 (Federal) and 1862 (Confederate) editions of Gilham's Tactics, by the way.)
The cartridge tubes include a powder cylinder, as per the originals. These are not simply tubes stuffed with cotton balls. A guide to folding the cartridge tails after filling them with powder can be seen here (http://www.cartridgetubes.com/images/folding.jpg).
Unfilled .58-caliber tubes as sold:
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7408/unfilled58tube.jpg
After you've filled them with powder and folded the tails:
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/463/58filled.jpg
C.S. Short Pattern Enfield cartridge -- Copied from an original made by the Augusta Arsenal, probably in late '63 or 1864. Enfield cartridges imported from England were high quality, but they were intended for British cartridge boxes and wouldn't fit in the tins of American style cartridge boxes. This shortened cartridge was the answer.
The Enfield cartridge has the "bullet" end dipped in lubricating wax, and contains a powder cylinder to protect the gunpowder and give the cartridge it's rigid form.
Original Enfield from a private collection, and my recreation below:
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/8751/csrefurb.jpg
50 cartridge tubes of either variety, Enfield or .58, are $14.00 with shipping included by USPS Priority Mail.
I take PayPal at pgbearcat@msn.com
PM me or e-mail me if you want to send a money order by snail mail.
1855 Pattern U.S. .58-caliber Minie cartridge -- Adopted for the M1855 rifle-musket, this cartridge was used by the Federals until generally replaced in 1862 by a simplified pattern, but was used extensively throughout the war by the Confederates. I've recreated this cartridge exactly to the specifications from the Ordnance Department's 1855 Reports of Experiments with Small Arms (http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8628/1855cartridge.jpg). Jefferson Davis, as Secretary of War, approved this cartridge pattern. (It's also the same cartridge described in the 1861 (Federal) and 1862 (Confederate) editions of Gilham's Tactics, by the way.)
The cartridge tubes include a powder cylinder, as per the originals. These are not simply tubes stuffed with cotton balls. A guide to folding the cartridge tails after filling them with powder can be seen here (http://www.cartridgetubes.com/images/folding.jpg).
Unfilled .58-caliber tubes as sold:
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7408/unfilled58tube.jpg
After you've filled them with powder and folded the tails:
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/463/58filled.jpg
C.S. Short Pattern Enfield cartridge -- Copied from an original made by the Augusta Arsenal, probably in late '63 or 1864. Enfield cartridges imported from England were high quality, but they were intended for British cartridge boxes and wouldn't fit in the tins of American style cartridge boxes. This shortened cartridge was the answer.
The Enfield cartridge has the "bullet" end dipped in lubricating wax, and contains a powder cylinder to protect the gunpowder and give the cartridge it's rigid form.
Original Enfield from a private collection, and my recreation below:
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/8751/csrefurb.jpg